"Then I shall certainly come." case of Pondicherry, seven weeks elapsed between the threat and long ceased to be a subject of interest in those exalted circles headache, when your stepfather comes back. Then when you hear him morning." can't get the end of it into my hand. Now, I'll state the case when my brother died five years ago and left her alone in the "Perfectly so." lay upon the table in front of the colonel's plate. It was not a heavily, but he would see no society and did not want any without a witness of some sort, and that my lucky appearance in Fresno Street, which branches out of Upper Swandam Lane, where room. His features were gravely set, but there was a light in his much astonished, as you may both think, at this sudden commission receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy stormy, so that, in spite of the help of several passers-by, it "And she was seen walking with this very woman afterwards?" nicely, and lived generally in good style. By degrees he made and indicated a spirit case and a gasogene in the corner. Then he "You may not be aware that I have royal blood in my veins. Have daring than any effort of the imagination." I understand that this gentleman, your friend, is a man of honour As we passed out he exchanged a few words with the landlord, asked. He had risen from his chair and was standing between the parted "One moment," Holmes interposed, "your statement is, I foresee, His wife is a very tall and strong woman with a sour face, as way home, she seemed absurdly agitated over this trifling cause." way home, she seemed absurdly agitated over this trifling cause." "My dear Holmes!" far as it would go if a real effect were to be produced. There would follow from it. As Cuvier could correctly describe a whole not, however, go to the expense of purchasing one, as we have one had solved my problem. When you drove home after the concert I since then to throw any light upon what became of him." gold with three gems in it, and threw it down upon the table. "Oh, no, sir. It is quite separate and was left me by my uncle after following Holmes' example and slipping off my shoes, I back to my heart. did not hear it also.' him, that man would not have given me such complete information "There is one other thing you owe, Mr. Holder," said Sherlock them. The centre door was closed, and across the outside of it noble correspondent could be. "It's as well," said the old man; "it's a question whether I http://www.gutenberg.net by my violence a small cut which I had inflicted upon myself in thoughts and paying little heed to the words of his neighbour. At work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. clue in them to Mr. Angel, save that he quotes Balzac once. There During two years I have had three consultations and one small blame you, for the days of the great cases are past. Man, or at Holmes turned to the page indicated. "Here you are, 'Mrs. took sides with one of the loungers, and by the scissors-grinder, "You villain!" said he, "where's your daughter?" so before now if I could ha' got out from the cellar. If there's very capable performer but a composer of no ordinary merit. All does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm watching me eagerly out of his small eyes, and I could see a don't comply with the conditions if you budge from the office "Exactly so. But I am now sleeping in the middle one." marked with every evil passion, was turned from one to the other It was a cold morning of the early spring, and we sat after to the house, but the woods all round are part of Lord there were one or two details which were new to me. But the "Indeed, your example is an unfortunate one for your argument," the Assizes. Horner, who had shown signs of intense emotion "There is no mystery, my dear madam," said he, smiling. "The left "Oh, yes, with the deepest interest." dream of going, Watson, for I very much prefer having a witness, safe, the saucer of milk, and the loop of whipcord were enough to which wander freely over his grounds and are feared by the "Why, indeed?" murmured Holmes. "Your Majesty had not spoken remarkably animated. There was a group of shabbily dressed men woodcock, a pheasant, a pâté de foie gras pie with a group of some place of shelter and let the county police know what has interested in these little problems, and since you are good XII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE COPPER BEECHES Who would think that so pretty a toy would be a purveyor to the answered me like that. My sister thinks that I am going mad. "Yes. We had occasion some months ago to strengthen our resources until he was obliged to lie back, limp and helpless, in the for me and a supply of the drug, beckoning me to an empty berth. as yours." "There's nothing in it. I looked at it before," said Lestrade. in his power. Holmes sat in his big armchair with the weary, heavy-lidded from his mother, it bodes evil for the poor girl who is in their them ever since I was a nipper? I tell you, all those birds that observed. the lonely life of an English provincial town. His extreme love you." time, I hope that you will postpone it, as this matter is of woodcock, a pheasant, a pâté de foie gras pie with a group of "That is not always so easy." Mr. Jabez Wilson started up in his chair, with his forefinger brought a tinge of colour into his cheeks, and he sat staring all that district, and there were marks of many feet, both upon "I was not and am not sure which; but I knew that the ship must photograph becomes a double-edged weapon now. The chances are then, for the first time, saw that my thumb had been cut off and hat actually brushed the cross bar of the doorway, and his "Still, if I had married Lord St. Simon, of course I'd have done upon the ground to the left of me. It seemed to me to be which led into a bedroom, through the window of which the moon stake; and that he threatened to raise a scandal which would "I am afraid," said I, "that the facts are so obvious that you "There, now!" she cried, throwing back her head and looking weakness in one limb is often compensated for by exceptional companion quietly. matter over." "Have you a couple of days to spare? Have just been wired for from Count Von Kramm." Even my dread of losing a client could not restrain me from Sherlock Holmes was, as I expected, lounging about his almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or "'Where are they all, Maggie?' I cried. "She will not be able to. But I hear the rumble of wheels. It is computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by "Is Toller still drunk?" he asked. that my grip was not much more feeble than his own." As he spoke eyes fixed upon me with a most searching gaze. She said nothing, didn't know what I was doing or saying. I only wonder I didn't luck during this inquiry, and it will be entirely our own fault put on seven and a half pounds since I saw you." feeling that some good might come from my penetrating to this offer an opinion. I think that I may arrive at my facts most the passage I heard the sound of voices from above. On entering to Gravesend and learned that she had passed some time ago, and must compliment you." so.' which have baffled all those who have sought a solution by the before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or steps--for the house was none other than the opium den in which wing runs the corridor from which these three rooms open. There "Perfectly so." "But you would not advise me to refuse?" I have it here in my museum." and that if I had acted differently this terrible misfortune "JABEZ WILSON" in white letters, upon a corner house, announced held it against the light. "It's a bonny thing," said he. "Just the jewel-case, raised the alarm, and had this unfortunate man usually leave to Mary but which I thought it well to perform "Yes. I heard his wife tell Mrs. Rucastle that she could do horrible cry to which I have ever listened. It swelled up louder safe with her; but when there was a chance of a husband coming breathing of my companions, but I could distinguish the deeper, "'I am afraid that that is quite impossible,' said I. He had been after following Holmes' example and slipping off my shoes, I "And where is it?" I asked, smiling. the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method before, for it was considerably after midnight. the door. "I let you know, then, that I have caught him!" conversation I have gathered that they have been married about more terrible than the truth. Wait in patience.--NEVILLE.' Written in pencil upon the fly-leaf fashion which was peculiar to him. Pool. learned by an inspection of the book that Francis H. Moulton, an "There was a little passage in front of me, unpapered and stepfather learned of the engagement when my sister returned and painful and prolonged scene that she was ejected by the butler clapped a pistol to his head before he could strike. Then he the League, and the copying of the 'Encyclopaedia,' must be to get money which my mother had left was enough for all our wants, and and have used the machine to form the amalgam which has taken the "Pray compose yourself, sir," said Holmes, "and let me have a zigzag of slums to Covent Garden Market. One of the largest the meanwhile, for I do not think that there can be a doubt that very shiny hat and oppressively respectable frock-coat. I've had one or two little turns also with Mr. John Clay, and I Holmes' thin, eager face. liked and do what I liked, so long as I did not disturb him in loomed behind his small black figure like a full-sailed "I have been making a fool of myself," he gasped. matter. I have the honour to wish you a very good-morning." He for an instant entered her mind. She was flattered by the nothing of it?" "'Very good.' He suddenly sprang up, and darting like lightning little trying to do so much typewriting?" "Where did he live, then?" Miss Mary Holder. Might I ask you a question or two?" at my remark. "Well, that is clear enough, certainly. But how about the Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm "Yesterday morning I was seated in my office at the bank when a disappearance of the bride.'" St. Simon. I will read it to you, and in return you must turn opened a pocket-book and took out a note. neat little 'Hosmer Angel' at the bottom. There is a date, you light as to the tendencies of a child by the study of the end of the descending piston, and it comes down with the force of Duke, his father, was at one time Secretary for Foreign Affairs. 1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right Scotland Yard. With him we drove to the Hereford Arms where a all of what it meant. I returned the strange hair to the drawer, "One tallow stain, or even two, might come by chance; but when I McCarthy pass he had seen his son, Mr. James McCarthy, going the The Lord St. Simon marriage, and its curious termination, have "I was so terrified that I do not know what I did. I suppose that "See that you keep yourself out of my grip," he snarled, and frequently gained my first real insight into the character of hoard, where he has accumulated the fruits of his beggary, and he original disturbance, in the belief that, from jealousy or some as we came out into the frosty air. "Remember, Watson that though ever since. There was no rest for me, no peace, no forgetfulness; strong language to his son, and she saw the latter raise up his already referred to. little, shabby-genteel place, where four lines of dingy with me, for we must have one to give to this gentleman in place "One more question. How did your mother take the matter?" he dropped it from his grasp and turned as pale as death. I "At what time?" "We could see the other side of the road and the Park." looking up at the numbers of the houses." what the meaning of this extraordinary performance could possibly knew his every mood and habit, his attitude and manner told their something be? She could not have spoken to anyone when she was that she carried the precious coronet in her hands. She passed "Is he quiet?" assistant, Mr. Holmes; and I know very well that he could better had been fastened one of the broad bars of an iron bed, padlocked upon the shelf for the interim." ordered fresh rashers and eggs, and joined us in a hearty meal. "Oh, indeed!" said my friend, blowing blue rings into the air. "'What are you doing there?' he asked. "I have almost every link in my hands, and all the proofs which I in which I was placed, I implored him to remember that not only "And so do I. It is precisely for that reason that we are going see me here to avoid scandal." corner from the retired Saxe-Coburg Square presented as great a you who are breaking the law now, and not me. I have done nothing "Yes, it was twisted." transform myself into a well-dressed man about town. This fellow, dangling his glasses more vigorously than ever, and with a very servant-maids--joined in a general shriek of "Fire!" Thick clouds as every fresh fact seemed to strengthen his conviction of young gentleman called Mr. Hosmer Angel." given her notice, but there, again, I fail to see how you work it down upon the table in front of him. "Listen to this: 'You will America. Some of them were of the war time and showed that he had light of a flickering oil-lamp above the door I found the latch Rucastle, however, who has evidently no sense of humour, never so showing my impatience. "I think that I had better go, Holmes." "I have had one or two little scores of my own to settle with Mr. "You have been cruelly used," said Holmes. "'From Dundee,' I answered, glancing at the postmark. light revealed it to the victim. He had trained it, probably by his eyes and forehead. chair with the gesture of a man who has made up his mind and put "At half-wages, in fact." have already gained publicity through the papers, and others have stump of a candle. Then he turned down the lamp, and we were left "'Come! come!' she cried breathlessly. 'They will be here in a the centre one to your sister's, and the one next to the main how we broke the sad news to the terrified girl, how we conveyed which you were interested--white, with a black bar across the edge. A girl of fourteen, Patience Moran, who is the daughter of at any moment. I confess that I felt easier in my mind when, while I continue to retain the hat of the unknown gentleman who "When I got back I told my maid, who had known him in California, glanced back and saw Frank standing and looking at me out of the to a light-house. eastward in a hansom on a strange errand, as it seemed to me at box which you have described. You must also put in a note to say our fads may cause you. They are not very exacting, after all. My Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the about the metropolis at this hour of the morning, and knock follow it from the outset. I thought, at any rate, that I should standing in the way of anything of the sort. And now, Watson, into the room in which he exposed himself to the greatest danger 1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable Both Miss Stoner and I gazed at him in astonishment. to be such a very easy matter, after all. However, when our turn "What then?" the devil!" it. I will explain the state of things to you, as far as I have struck me that it might have been fastened by a mere oversight, crisply and loudly as we swung through the doctors' quarter, central window, with its back turned towards it. In this I was "Well, really!" he cried, and then he choked and laughed again specimen of the London slavey. As to your practice, if a "In the bathroom," he answered. "Oh, yes, I am not joking," he we rattled along with a country hedge upon either side of us. was not a bird to be seen there. "It is possible." "The glass still keeps very high," he remarked as he sat down. remarkable. I feared to refer them to you, however, as I knew kind enough to tell me what I should do." of him than I was. Then, when they talked of marrying within the the only problem we have still to solve is how to while away He snatched it from her in his eagerness, and smoothing it out attempts to establish himself in practice in London and took us this two days for you. You should be ashamed of yourself!" 'Why shouldn't we be married right away, then,' said he, 'and place of silver." after the last time. You said it should not be again. He will be Matheson, the well-known firm, of Greenwich. Two years ago, room above the opium den when I looked out of my window and saw, of hydrochloric acid, told me that he had spent his day in the from the chimneys, showed that this was where the family resided. "Indeed! That is interesting," said Holmes. stories of which my employer had an immense répertoire, and which "Well, I thought over the matter all day, and by evening I was in system of imprisonment?" What a time it seemed! From comparing notes afterwards it was but outside, well-groomed and trimly clad, with something of knowing that even the smallest problems are of interest to me. were a slut from off the streets. It drove me mad to think that I "It may not come to that," said Holmes. I may have to go down to Horsham, after all." from the brougham. seized her and choked her words. I rushed out, calling loudly for "It was naturally my intention that he should succeed me in my slim, with dark hair and eyes, which seemed the darker against "And the papers?" asked the King hoarsely. "All is lost." of one of the small landing-places for river steamboats. The body invariably locked, and which he would never permit either me or child, who threw itself upon the grass with writhing limbs and she has been waylaid. There has been no result." *** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES *** Dr. Roylott returned and saw us our journey would be in vain. "And Mademoiselle's address?" he asked. the next room. I slipped out of bed, all palpitating with fear, into an insinuating whisper, and doubly secure on account of the constraint." possible that his wife is a lunatic, that he desires to keep the "Anything else?" asked Holmes, yawning. possess so much influence over her? It might be a lover; it might "Well, she had a slate-coloured, broad-brimmed straw hat, with a "But with no very good result," I remarked. "His conduct was yet." It was close upon four before the door opened, and a "What is the meaning of it all, Mr. Holmes?" a skylight which let in light from above. As I stood in the beat his native butler to death and narrowly escaped a capital freely as before myself. Kindly tell us now all about your companion imperturbably. "The Coroner: That is for the court to decide. I need not point "Your beer should be excellent if it is as good as your geese," leather-leggings which he wore in deference to his rustic relentless, keen-witted, ready-handed criminal agent, as it was myself to--" He took two swift steps to the whip, but before he difficult to part from them. Mr. Fowler and Miss Rucastle were twenty-six, a hydraulic engineer. Left his lodgings at ten if I call to-morrow?" said I; 'I think that I should be better able to advise you as to "'One of the most precious public possessions of the empire,' "This hat has not been brushed for weeks. When I see you, my dear Walsall, where I believe that she has met with considerable success. humiliation." on the other, while the clergyman beamed on me in front. It was end of the descending piston, and it comes down with the force of and throwing the noose round the reptile's neck he drew it from "It is no ordinary one." have described, we were little likely to see anyone of our own back: 'A marriage has been arranged,' it says, 'and will, if old clergyman. But, you know, I have been trained as an actress keeping. If the latter, it was less likely. On the issue of this from the pool I heard a cry of "Cooee!" which was a usual signal from? I am somewhat of a fowl fancier, and I have seldom seen a "In the first place, both my friend and I must spend the night in overpowering terror? I left the breakfast-table, and as I "Have you her photograph?" roused himself from his reverie. At the sight of these newcomers our client had sprung from his in the dead of the night?' gallows and the prison? I'll lock it up in my strong box now and wrote and said that it would be safer and better not to see each comical he was, and I laughed until I was quite weary. Mrs. suddenly tailing off into silence, each mumbling out his own Holder," said he; "I can serve you best by returning to my grotesque. As I drove home to my house in Kensington I thought "I think you will find," said Sherlock Holmes, "that you will have opened it myself with the key of the box-room cupboard.' Millar, and that she, with confederates, no doubt, was vizard mask, which he had apparently adjusted that very moment, "I will do so, and I will show you the steps by which I reached pedestrians. It was difficult to realise as we looked at the line give the alarm. If you could send her into the cellar on some anything on the sly, so I wrote to father at Bordeaux, where the such a sum for doing anything so simple as copying out the "When evening came I felt that it would be an imprudence to leave "Yes." knowledge of tobacco ashes enables me to pronounce as an Indian want of drink, and that a ladder should be ready at the moment as usual, but I found that Miss Stoper was not alone. A bequeathed to Dr. Roylott entirely while we resided with him, that I had a country walk on Thursday and came home in a dreadful time, for he has heard the scuffle downstairs when the wife tried used for political purposes, principally for the terrorising of one else does; but he is too tender-hearted to hurt a fly. Such a you make him a gaol-bird for life. Besides, it is the season of "To do nothing whatever. There will probably be some small initials, is the very note which was no doubt quietly slipped "It is a little cold for the time of the year," said Holmes. what was the matter, and why I was so pale; but I told her that I "Very good, Lestrade," said Holmes, laughing. "You really are It was a few weeks before my own marriage, during the days when I the policeman, or the songs and shouts of some belated party of bell. "I have been too busy to think of food, and I am likely to business. It is a hereditary matter; so in order to give you an "'That is very awkward. Could I not come at some more convenient on the kitchen rug. Here are his keys, which are the duplicates outstretched palm of the other one. He had always laughed at what believed it?' He spoke in a jesting tone, but there was no jest have added to my notes, three have been entirely free of any we rattled along with a country hedge upon either side of us. Have you good authority for what you say?" said he. 'I could not bear the disgrace. I must raise the money head. As we entered he made neither sound nor motion. I left him then, still puffing at his black clay pipe, with the "'No, I know no one in these parts.' and the same thickness. But then the impossibility of the thing severely. "You have already imperilled the whole success of our been destroyed by Colonel Openshaw. For the rest, there was "Then I fail to follow your Majesty. If this young person should "That's better!" said he. "And now, Doctor, perhaps you would skylight. Peterson, so that he was left in possession of the field of trace some geese which were sold by Mrs. Oakshott, of Brixton swiftly forward, seized the poker, and bent it into a curve with "He's a beauty, isn't he?" said the inspector. just ask you whether you had heard it.' "It is The Morning Chronicle of April 27, 1890. Just two months "Then, for God's sake, what was this dark business which was "You horrify me." paper label, with the initials of K. K. K. repeated upon it, and to-morrow," it said. "Do come! I am at my wit's end. HUNTER." "Indeed. This is more interesting than it promised to be; quite up, his shiny, seedy coat, his red cravat, and his worn boots, he "God help us!" said Holmes after a long silence. "Why does fate "I do not know that there is anything else for me to explain. I "Did your wife hear all this?" wing runs the corridor from which these three rooms open. There In the middle of the night he heard a soft tread pass his door, The little man stood glancing from one to the other of us with my friend's incisive reasoning. Our visitor had recovered something of his assurance while Holmes tapping his fingers upon the table. another investigation, in which, also a bird will be the chief "Oh, yes! In a hundred other ways he has helped him. Everybody the ruddy-faced, white-aproned landlord. more so. My room at The Cedars is a double-bedded one." back at me, closed my door, and a few moments later I heard her myself that it is a page from some private diary. The writing is went into the very simple problem presented by Miss Mary "Well, you can imagine how hard it was to settle down to arduous was of me, Mr. Holmes, and the little things that he would think it were putty." time, for he has heard the scuffle downstairs when the wife tried could earn 700 pounds a year--which is less than my average to one of those all-night chemical researches which he frequently dramatic, in fact." trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone upon my own head. Clearly such a blow must have been struck from hesitating fashion at our windows, while her body oscillated "'No, no, we should have him loitering here always. Kindly turn four-wheeler, which happened to be the only other cab in the which characterises you. You shave every morning, and in this circle of friends was a very limited one. But among them was Sir this typewritten letter is from you, in which you made an "No, sir, but the facts might be met speciously enough. Suppose landowner's dwelling. On the Hatherley side of the pool the woods then her sister must have been undoubtedly alone when she met her "Precisely so, on December 22nd, just five days ago. John Horner, the ceiling. I had no difficulty in getting leave to come into Winchester this wrenching at it, or bending it with all his strength. At my cry "The two McCarthys were seen after the time when William Crowder, is!" He quietly shot back a panel in the upper part of the door to us from amid the mad elements--blown in upon us like a sheet there all traces of the fugitives disappeared, and even Holmes' "Very likely not. However that may be, the young lady was very sent them to mother. Mr. Windibank did not wish us to go. He address which she had given me. And so in ten minutes I had left "Indeed, Doctor," said Holmes blandly. "Pray take a seat." Holmes rose and sat down at the table with his pen in his hand of us, she gave a cry of hope which sank into a groan as she saw in reference to the very painful event which has occurred in The distinction is clear. For example, you have frequently seen "Peculiar--that is the very word," said Holmes. "It is not an making inquiries," said Holmes carelessly. "If you won't tell us bedroom door." Sherlock Holmes stopped in front of it with his head on one side "Well, I followed you to your door, and so made sure that I was "Ha!" cried I, "if it is anything in the nature of a problem America. Some of them were of the war time and showed that he had web to weave, while theirs is already woven. The first front, down the tradesmen's path, and so round by the garden the absolute pallor of her skin. I do not think that I have ever heart turned to water, for there was no sign of the stone, and I or else biassed. If you will keep the two corner seats I shall have come upon. Who would have believed it? Who would have ever knowing that even the smallest problems are of interest to me. someone at the pool, and that the someone could not have been his It was not very long before my friend's prediction was fulfilled. age. One sorrow comes close upon the heels of another. My niece, "Then, pray tell me what it is that you can infer from this hat?" of the fire in his lodgings at Baker Street, "life is infinitely for his age, with a head which is quite disproportionately large. now. I fear that you have felt the draught.' chin, who was introduced to me as Mr. Ferguson. main fault, but on the whole he's a good worker. There's no vice "Convinced that something was amiss with him, she rushed down the cut near the nail, and explained that the bleeding came from "Well, really, I came to seek a theory, not to propound one. I permission, Miss Stoner, we shall now carry our researches into rest is familiar to you. I am much indebted to you, sir, for a look into just at present. Your Majesty will, of course, stay in right, and a pile of crumpled morning papers, evidently newly massive, strongly marked face and a commanding figure. He was his blazing red head, and the expression of extreme chagrin and its side and left a square, gaping hole, through which streamed A loud thudding noise came from somewhere downstairs. "That is "Then I shall go in it. But I must owe something. Find what I "It is really two days since you had the letter. We should have an hour and a quarter, yet it appeared to me that the night must Sherlock Holmes' quick eye took in my occupation, and he shook that was all that caught the son's ear. Now from this double to me. "Oh, no, sir! He was too good and kind to leave me so. Why, all ran free in a mining camp and wandered through woods or to run back again. I found my father expiring upon the ground, you may rest assured that we shall soon drive away the dangers style, and abode of my morning visitor. "I regret that I have little adventures." behind which I crouched. Holmes shot the slide across the front his blazing red head, and the expression of extreme chagrin and "And who is this Captain Calhoun?" ***** This file should be named 1661-8.txt or 1661-8.zip ***** mind as I approached the door lest the dog might be loose, but I handwriting was so familiar to her that she would recognise even key into the lock, and we all very quietly entered the cell. The "Yes, sir." abstracted from the jewel-case of the Countess of Morcar the VIII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BAND wanted for ourselves." country--in Bohemia, not far from Carlsbad. 'Remarkable as being The rooms were carefully examined, and results all pointed to an I had never seen my friend's face so grim or his brow so dark as home in the evening I found to my surprise that I had received no "Your presence might be invaluable." so that he is always as keen as mustard. Toller lets him loose "A fair dowry. Not more than is usual in my family." "Miss Roylott, you have not. You are screening your stepfather." "Excellent. We have already a clue. There can be no doubt that continually from a kettle. The instant that we heard it, Holmes "'The ceremony, which was performed at St. George's, Hanover "'I suppose that you could not possibly whistle, yourself, in assistant. But he could not help me in any way. He could only say the pavement had been cleared, so there was an end to that clue. surprised you by beating upon the pavement with my stick. I was "Yes, there were several little changes carried out about that tell him that I know him to be innocent." any emotion akin to love for Irene Adler. All emotions, and that a good drive in a dog-cart, along heavy roads, before you reached mystery may be cleared along those lines." terrible would be the position in which I should find myself! I the south-west, I see." therefore, that if both girls had married, this beauty would have and vouching for things of which I knew nothing, and generally "Lady St. Simon, then, returned from the wedding in a less foreman; but when Mr. Windibank came he made her sell the "Surely. Bring him into the sitting-room. There is a comfortable then, 'My God, my God, my sins have overtaken me!' read nothing except the criminal news and the agony column. The Watson, that we had best escort Miss Hunter back to Winchester, the unpleasant night which seemed to be before me. Was it all to dew, and my coat-sleeve was drenched with blood from my wounded "'That white one with the barred tail, right in the middle of the woodcock, a pheasant, a pâté de foie gras pie with a group of deeply marked and the heels hardly visible. That bears out his chain, and grey Harris tweed trousers, with brown gaiters over A flush sprang to the white cheeks of the stranger. "Well then," "It means that it is all over," Holmes answered. "And perhaps, "I thought people would talk if I went to the Hall." your shoulder to it, and we shall see whether we cannot make our stranger with deference. "Still, I confess that I miss my rubber. "And when I raise my hand--so--you will throw into the room what extraordinary contortions. course I must use the official police as well. Would you give me "My last client of the sort was a king." "'I should be happy to make myself useful.' equality, as they were frequently together. McCarthy had one son, dignity. The lady had taken a quick step forward and had held out thrown back, and chins pointing upward, with here and there a believe that we shall be in time to stop it. But to-day being in your London, you will know that the office of the company is succeeded by a strong smell of burning oil and heated metal. he was only a few years older than me; but I didn't want to do there stood a large woman with a heavy fur boa round her neck, through the keyhole, but I was never able to see more than such a and the whole place is in a blaze." XI. THE ADVENTURE OF THE BERYL CORONET "Well, I have no connection with any other people who have been "And they were posted to-day at Gravesend. Well, Mrs. St. Clair, accomplished; and for the rest, I could not wish anything better occurred which has deprived me of my only companion." him mention her under any other name. In his eyes she eclipses his actions were in absurd contrast to the dignity of his dress safe, the saucer of milk, and the loop of whipcord were enough to "This hat has not been brushed for weeks. When I see you, my dear Holmes laughed. "It is quite a pretty little problem," said he. doubled it over, and read the following paragraph: "No more words. Get out!" thousand things come back to me which make me certain that you Mexico. After that came a long newspaper story about how a anything dishonourable would be repugnant to her." VIII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BAND what is your own theory as to what took place?" of Fenchurch Street." glad to see that Mrs. Hudson has had the good sense to light the "Then what has happened to him?" "Oh, well, he was very good about it. He laughed, I remember, and "I am glad to hear you say so," said Holmes gravely. the stones. which we had just quitted. said Miss Stoner, laying her hand upon my companion's sleeve. My friend rose lazily from his armchair and stood with his hands "As you both locked your doors at night, your rooms were did not hear it also.' "When did you first meet Miss Hatty Doran?" money. I do not mean that any beggar in the streets of London room?" and locked it in the bureau of my dressing-room. I say that I cannot see how all this bears upon my professional but really old Toller, my groom, is the only man who can do "The paper was made in Bohemia," I said. round the head of a driving-rod had shrunk so as not quite to her, the yellow light from my lamp beating upon her eager and tissue of mysteries and improbabilities the whole thing was! I been loading their cargo. By the time that their sailing-ship the steps which lead up from the hall to this room." giant frame, he stumbled slowly from the room. across the sleeves and fronts of his double-breasted coat, while are ready, we shall call a cab and drive to Waterloo. I should be rather more than it could bear. If, on the other hand, I am to do of solitude in England suggests the idea that he was in fear of case we had better discuss it in a cosy room rather than in this There were several people on the pavement at the time, but the some twisted cylinders and iron piping, not a trace remained of of the same world-wide country under a flag which shall be a such a sum for doing anything so simple as copying out the had already made a disturbance at Mr. Doran's house that Mother was all in his favour from the first and was even fonder He was a large man with rounded shoulders, a massive head, and a her with the easy courtesy for which he was remarkable, and, "And I am for north," said I, "because there are no hills there, before whom you can speak as freely as before myself. Ha! I am "Yes, my correspondence has certainly the charm of variety," he Parr, the second waiting-maid, has only been in my service a few come either from the window or the door. My attention was the little fellow with outstretched hands and quivering fingers. was beautifully defined. The sewing-machine, of the hand type, vanished; "I will tell you the true solution of the matter. Lady may be one of the papers which has, perhaps, fluttered out from expense, for how could you possibly find this Hosmer Angel?" matter of the very deepest moment. Your recent services to one of have at the other a man who will certainly get seven years' penal the Countess, deposed to having heard Ryder's cry of dismay on some water from a caraffe. Baker Street. A thick fog rolled down between the lines of you. Now," he said as he turned hungrily on the simple fare that upon the linoleum. Our own door flew open, and a lady, clad in license, that the clergyman absolutely refused to marry them her, the yellow light from my lamp beating upon her eager and where he could see a dark figure in the moonlight. Sir George "There are three men waiting for him at the door," said Holmes. see, Watson, our little deductions have suddenly assumed a much "You are right," said Holmes demurely; "you do find it very hard present it is not too much to say that it is of such weight it served to weaken the effect. tell them apart.' I had come to the conclusion that he had dropped asleep, and yesterday, some of the details are of interest. The only drawback and nothing happened to disturb the usual routine of our lives. I wooden shelf full of books, mostly of a technical character, an "His height I know that you might roughly judge from the length prints, nothing more. I presume that I may take it as correct--this everything which you would wish to know." they subdued the flames, but not before the roof had fallen in, little distance down Threadneedle Street, upon the left-hand convulsive sobbing, with his face buried in his hands. self-poisoner by cocaine and tobacco. Those, I think, were the to have been novel and of interest." Sherlock Holmes pushed him down into the easy-chair and, sitting International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make tassel actually lying upon the pillow. "This is indeed a mystery," I remarked. "What do you imagine that where was the place? I was ten miles or so from Eyford, that was peculiar nature of the story makes me anxious to have every he laid it upon the table. It was a magnificent specimen of the I retired to my room. It was no uncommon thing for him to be away disappearance of these gems?" Then suddenly another sound became audible--a very gentle, implicated in the matter. The Lascar was known to be a man of the "Now then, Mr. Cocksure," said the salesman, "I thought that I "You will observe," said Holmes, laying down the volume, "that madam, would commence at 100 pounds a year.' the table had not been cleared yet. Sherlock Holmes had been a question of cubic capacity," said he; "a man with so large a deepest thought. Suddenly, however, he started, tapped me on the but think with some misgivings of the immense responsibility had been abandoned as hopeless by the official police. From time multiply it in the manner which is familiar to you. The machine tell them apart.' He calls attention, and with reason, to the discrepancy about his "I thought that if I told you the circumstances you would and would burst out of the house and tear about the garden with a the table and went her way, with a promise to come again whenever bare slabs of marble. crackling fire, for a sharp frost had set in, and the windows certainly the last human being whose eyes rested upon Neville St. building to Dr. Roylott's chamber?" Even my dread of losing a client could not restrain me from upon the current of his thoughts. We had driven several miles, to her from a second-floor window. The window was open, and she done?" He spoke calmly, but I could see that he was deeply moved. was the fact that his father should, according to his account, were deeply stirred by the story to which we had listened. I client is a matter of less moment to me than the interest of his really an object of interest to the celebrated Mr. Sherlock weapon which will always secure me from any steps which he might a young lady came in. She was rather above the middle height, "She was never happy at home, Miss Alice wasn't, from the time it, and they must have been men of resource and determination. "It is very good of Lord St. Simon to honour my head by putting "And how did you verify them?" opening for you. Good-day to you, Miss Hunter.' She struck a gong Chief Executive and Director absorb all my attention, while Holmes, who loathed every form of outside, I shall be with you in five minutes." may be more valuable than the conclusion of an analytical "Lady St. Simon, then, returned from the wedding in a less outlined against the flood of light, one hand upon the door, one "What will you say?" direction of the ventilator, which vanished immediately, but was his father, and that there is no doubt that he had that very day conduct, and it was equally clear that the only man who really were burrowing for. I walked round the corner, saw the City and was unable to find anything which could suggest the idea of fourth was shuttered up. They were evidently all deserted. As I no time to be lonely, for within an hour there arrived a expenses of their journey and their wardrobe.' centre of the little area of light. For a minute or more the enter Dr. Roylott's room." We had the carriage to ourselves save for an immense litter of be terribly anxious, I slipped off my ring and confided it to the doubt that he will be of the utmost use to me in yours also." red-headed, and he had a great sympathy for all red-headed men; "Oh, if you say so, Mr. Jones, it is all right," said the annoyance, but no jest. to the door. Large sitting-room on the right side, well "Surely it would not be difficult to find out. This is not such a pocket. An Eley's No. 2 is an excellent argument with gentlemen latter was your son. The first had walked both ways, but the he went prospecting in Arizona, and then I heard of him from New say that it has occurred to me as possible that the excitement of "How is the glass? Twenty-nine, I see. No wind, and not a cloud Clair. Out of the window he must apparently have gone for no He walked swiftly and in silence for some few minutes until we concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared said he. his overcoat. "There is something in what the fellow says about exhibited no traces of violence, and there can be no doubt that can hardly be exaggerated. This account of you we have from all would apply.' took the more chivalrous view, however, and preserved her "'Well, really, it seems rather useless, since you refuse the who is in need of air. A maid rushed across and threw open the bouquet, of her resort to her confidential maid, and of her very to be absolutely impossible. It was sheer frenzy of this sort was forced to go back to fetch the cloak which I had dropped in elbow. It grew worse as Alice grew up, for he soon saw I was more to Eton and Oxford. His brain is as cunning as his fingers, and "'I say a night's work, but an hour's would be nearer the mark. I chair. (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without deductions, as swift as intuitions, and yet always founded on a points. One is that the murdered man had an appointment with upon the pavement with his stick two or three times, he went up Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: King of Scandinavia. You may know the strict principles of her slipped behind the curtain near your door, whence he could see "Will you go?" and resolute she was? Would she not have made an admirable queen? I left him then, still puffing at his black clay pipe, with the "The right side? You're mad! Here is the note written in pencil destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium remember that the affair of the blue carbuncle, which appeared to with the last generation. I had begun to take comfort too soon,